Garment hangers



May 12, 1959 A. T. BOURNE GARMENT HANGERS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Sept. 10, 1957 Inventor.-

AZF/Mv 72/0/745 dam 4 5 Attorneys May 12, 1959 Filed Sept. 10. 1957 A. T. BOURNE 2,886,224

GARMENT HANGERS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Am I /7 A {torneys United States Patent GARMENT HANGERS Alfred Thomas Bourne, Torquay, England Application September 10, 1957, Serial No. 683,110 Claims priority, application Great Britain August 18, 1956 3 Claims. (Cl. 22391) This invention concerns garment hangers of the kind comprising a yoke furnished with a cross rail or bar (hereinafter called a rail) to support an auxiliary garment such as trousers, a skirt or similar garment (all hereinafter referred to as garments), and the object of this invention is to provide a simple and efficient means of preventing garments placed over the cross rail from slipping therefrom.

According to one aspect of this invention there is provided in or for a garment hanger having a yoke and an auxiliary garment supporting rail extending across the arms of such yoke, auxiliary garment retaining means comprising a spring element or strip flexible in only a single plane containing the axis of the said auxiliary rail, such element or strip being located within and extending between the said yoke arms and above said auxiliary rail, a hinge at each end of such element or strip, such hinges having their hinging axes perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the spring element or strip and to said plane, and such hinges having parts thereof secured respectively to the opposite ends of said spring element or strip on one side of their hinging axes and being adapted on the other side of their hinging axes to be so secured one to each arm of the yoke of the garment hanger, and the said spring element or strip plus the parts of the hinges to which it is secured being of such a length greater than the rectilinear distance between the said yoke arms at the positions thereof to which the said spring element or strip end portions are to be secured, that the said spring element or strip is capable of being sprung in said plane alternatively between two bowed positions of opposite curvature in one of which it bears on the said rail and in the other of which it is wholly spaced from the said rail.

A hinged guide strut may be provided between the two hinge plates of each of the said hinges to limit the relative pivoting movement of such hinge plates and to assist in confining their movement to a single plane.

Said element or strip is self-adjusting automatically to accommodate, between itself and the said rail of the garment hanger, garments of moderately differing thicknesses or weights, e.g. summer weight or winter weight, whilst being self-retaining in either of its alternative positions and stable in both positions. Furthermore, the pressure exerted by the spring element or strip remains approximately the same and consequently is not likely to mark garments, e.g. thick garments, placed on the rail, due to the exertion of additional pressure because of its extra thickness.

The garment hanger may be made of any appropriate material, such as wood, aluminium, plastics, e.g. methyl methacrylate resins, steel, chrome or softer materials, and can be fabricated by any suitable constructional method or can be stamped, pressed or moulded from appropriate materials, whilst the said spring element is preferably in the form of a length of spring metal, e.g. steel, strip which may be finished, e.g. plated, in any appropriate manner.

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In order that the nature of the invention maybe more readily understood, reference will now be made by wayof example to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a garment hanger having this invention applied thereto;

Figure 2 is a front elevation of the hanger shown in Figure 1 and illustrating it in use in supporting a pair of trousers on the trousers rail of the hanger;

Figure 3 is an enlarged detailed view showing the method of connecting the spring element or strip to the arms of the yoke of the garment hanger, the spring element or strip being, in this figure, shown in its inoperative position;

Figure 4 is a view similar to Figure 3, but showing the spring element or strip in its operative position;

Figure 5 is a fragmentary front elevation of the hanger shownv in Figure 1, but illustrating a modified method of anchoring the ends of the spring element or strip in the arms of the hanger; and

Figure 6 is, a section on the line V--V, Figure 5.

Referring to the drawings, it will be seen that the parti'cular garment hanger there illustrated (by way of example) is of the wishbone type and comprises a yoke 1 having a pair of downwardly and forwardly divergent arms 2 and 3 and provided at its upper part with a suspension hook 4. Across the lower ends of the arms 2 and 3' of the yoke is fixed a trousers rail 5. The hanger so far described is of normal form and the hanger used need not be of this particular shape,

In applying this invention to such a hanger, means. are provided for retaining a garment placed over the rail 5 against slipping therefrom and such means comprises a bowed spring strip 6 pivotally connected at its ends to the insides respectively of the arms 2 and 3 of the hanger, the length of the strip (and its hinging means) between the pivoting axes of the ends of the strip being greater than the rectilinear distance between the said axes themselves so that the element or strip 6 must assume either an upwardly substantially bowed position such as shown in Figure 1 or a downwardly substantially bowed position such as shown in Figure 2 and cannot rest in an intermediate position. Thus the element or strip is in the nature of an over-dead centre device which snaps to one side or the other, as required, of the straight line joining the two pivoting axes of the element or strip. Furthermore, the length of the said strip is such that in its downwardly substantially bowed position it engages the rail 5, or a garment thereon, over a substantial distance as shown in Figure 2.

The element or strip preferably comprises a lengthy of spring steel strip which may be chromium plated or encased in a resilient sheath and which may be about half an inch wide, each end of this strip being fixed co-linearly to one of the two hinge plates 7 and 8 of a pair of hinges 9, each having the other of its plates secured to the inside of one of the arms 2 and 3 of the hanger 1 and which arms may have oblique flats 10 (at or formed at about 30 to the inside surface of the arm) provided for seating the hinge plates attached thereto. Conveniently the hinge plates 7 are secured to the arms 2 and 3 respectively by screws 11.

When the element or strip 6 is in its uppermost position shown in Figure l, the hinge plates 8 conveniently lie more or less along the insides of the arms 2 and 3 of the garment hanger, but when the spring element or strip 6 is in its operative position shown in Figure 2, the plates 8 of the said hinges are approximately at right angles to the plate 7 of the latter, somewhat as shown in the enlarged views of Figures 3 and 4 respectively.

Struts 12 in the form of stiff wire oblong loops are provided for each of the said hinges, one end of each loop being pivotally anchored to a hinge plate 8 and the other end being slidable in a slot 13 in the other hinge plate. These struts 12 move, as the spring element or strip 6 passes from its inoperative position of Figure 1 to its operative position shown in Figure 2, from a parallel relationship with the end-to-end hinge plates 7 and 8 to the bridging or diagonal position shown in Figure 4 and serve to limit the downward hinging of the hinge plates 7.

The free upper parts 8 of the hinges 9 permit free movement up or down, as required, of the element or strip 6 only in a single plane containing the axis of the bar 5. The element or strip 6 may be pulled down merely by placing a finger on the centre thereof and pressing downwards and may be returned to its upper position conveniently by pressing the element or strip upwardly from below near its end portions (e.g. by exerting upward pressure on the struts 12) or at its centre portion. Thus to use the hanger, after placing a pair of trousers or other garment over the rail while the spring element or strip 6 is in the position shown in Figure 1, all that is necessary is for the element or strip to be pressed or pulled downwards, so that it passes over its dead-centre position with a click and presses downwardly on to the garment on the rail 5 and holds the latter firmly against slipping or rolling on the rail. To release the trousers or other garment, the element 6 is pulled upwardly from the centre or pushed upwardly from the ends and snaps back into the Figure 1 position ready for future use.

Substantially steady pressure is applied along the upper edge of the rail 5 by the element 6 when in its operative position and by arranging the pivots for the element or strip 6 in a position substantially as shown and with the length of the element itself such that its end portions are roughly at about 15 to 30 to the rail when the element or strip is in its operative position, the strip levels itself out somewhat along the rail and holds the garment over a substantial length or at longitudinally spaced positions along the rail rather than at a central point.

In an alternative form of garment hanger according to this invention and shown in Figures 5 and 6, the spring element or strip has its ends directly pivoted in the arms of the yoke 1 of the hanger, instead of being connected to such arms by intermediate hinges. As shown, the ends of the spring element or strip 6 are seated in notches 15 in the arms 2 and 3, these ends being restrained against movement in a direction at right angles to the main plane of movement of the element or strip by being provided with projections or lugs 16 engaged in recesses 17 at the base of the notches 15.

Although two embodiments of the invention have been described in some detail by way of example, it should be understood that the principle of the invention could be embodied in practical form in several alternative ways and the element 6 could be, for .example, in the form of a spring wire or a plurality of spring wires, which may or may not be enclosed in a rubber, plastic or other cover and which could be moved towards its alternative positions either entirely by its own springiness or with the aid of rubber or other elastic or resilient elements such as coiled springs, for example.

I claim:

1. In a garment hanger having a yoke and an auxiliary garment supporting rail extending across the arms of such yoke, auxiliary garment retaining means comprising a spring strip flexible in only a single plane containing the axis of the said auxiliary rail, such strip being located within and extending between the said yoke arms and above said auxiliary rail, a hinge at each end 7 of such strip, such hinges having their hinging axes perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the spring strip and to said plane, such hinges having parts thereof secured respectively to the opposite ends of said spring strip on one side of their hinging axes and being adapted on the other side of their hinging axes to be so secured one to each arm of the yoke of the garment hanger, and the said spring strip plus the parts of the hinges to which it is secured being of such a length greater than the rectilinear distance between the said yoke arms at the positions thereof to which the said spring strip end portions are to be secured, that the said spring strip is capable of being sprung in said plane alternatively between two bowed positions of opposite curvature in one of which it bears on the said rail and in the other of which it is wholly spaced from the said rail.

2. A garment hanger comprising: a yoke having two downwardly divergent arms; an auxiliary garment supporting rail extending across the said yoke between said arms; an auxiliary garment retaining device comprising a spring element flexible only in a single plane; two hinges each having two hinge plates, one each of which hinge plates of each hinge is anchored colinearly to one end portion of the said spring element and the other of which plates is secured to one of the arms of the said yoke with the longitudinal axis and flexing plane of the spring element substantially perpendicular to the pivoting axis of the said hinge plates, the said spring element being so positioned and, together with the parts of the hinges to which it is anchored, of such a length greater than the rectilinear distance between the said yoke arms at the positions thereof to which said element end portions are anchored that the said element is capable of being sprung alternatively between two bowed positions of opposite curvature in one of which it bears on the said rail and in the other of which it is wholly spaced from the said rail; and a hinged guide strut positioned between and connecting the two hinge plates of the said hinge.

3. A garment hanger comprising: a yoke having two similar downwardly and forwardly divergent arms; an auxiliary garment supporting rail extending across the said yoke between the free ends of said arms; a spring strip flexible only in a single plane containing said rail arranged between the arms of said yoke and above said rail; two hinges each having two hinge plates, one of which hinge plates of each hinge is anchored colinearly to one end portion of the said spring strip and the other of which plates is secured in a recess formed obliquely in the underside of one of the arms of the said yoke with the longitudinal axis and flexing plane of the spring strip substantially perpendicular to the pivoting axis of the said hinge plates, the said spring strip being so positioned and, together with the parts of the hinges to which it is anchored, of such a length greater than the rectilinear distance between the said yoke arms at the positions thereof to which said strip end portions are anchored that the said strip is capable of being sprung alternatively between the bowed positions of opposite curvature on one of which it bears on the said rail and in the other of which it is wholly-spaced from the said rail; and a hinged guide strut in the form of a looped member connecting the plates of each said hinge, one end of each said loop being pivotally anchored to one of its associated hinge plates and the other end of the said loop being slidable in the other hinge plate.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,206,348 Macpherson Nov. 28, 1916 2,494,727 Sloane Jan. 17, 1950 2,547,561 Brooke Apr. 3, 1951 

